Stories around the Fire
by con14
Summary: In honor of October, I wanted to write an Anthology story. On a cool night, Hiccup and the Dragon riders are relaxing in the woods by the fire until Tuffnut suggests they all tell scary stories. Read along as the Vikings spin a series of terrifying tales that'll make your hair stand on ends. (No M rated material).
1. Campfire Stories

_**Hey everyone, I know it's been a while since I've contributed anything to Fanfiction, between school and work I've been pretty busy, and there are points where I have time but I wasn't in the mood. But it's October and I've been thinking of writing a horror tale for a while, although this isn't going to be hard horror story, I want to follow the tone of the series. Also I apologize to those who followed my previous story 'A New Day' but after the fifth season came out I just completely lost momentum to complete it, I am sorry and I appreciated your interest. With that said, I hope you enjoy this new story.**_

* * *

 **Campfire Stories**

Night had fully arrived on the Isle of Berk, a full moon was hanging in the sky, many of the people have retired to their homes for a nice rest and the same could be said for the dragons who have also found their resting spots. There was a calm breeze in the air and the only sounds that could be heard were the leaves rustling. It truly was as a peaceful night on Berk, yet not everyone was asleep in their beds, not too far from the village in a clearing in the woods, a roaring campfire burned and around that fire eight young Vikings sat and were enjoying the evening.

Six of the members were Hiccup and the other Dragon Riders, who had come to Berk for a little vacation from Dragon's Edge, the future chief believed that they had earned a little break after everything that has happened over the last few months. The other two in the group we're none other than the Berserker siblings, Heather and Dagur, after the ordeal they've all been though, Hiccup had invited them to take some time off which they eagerly agreed to. All the riders were relaxing near the fire while their dragons had fallen asleep around them. It was a nice setting, Hiccup and Astrid were sitting closely to each other as were Fishlegs and Heather, Ruffnut and Tuffnut sat between the couples while Snotlout was sitting next to Dagur between Astrid and Heather.

"I really like this time of year." Hiccup commented with a contented smile on his face.

"I know right; summer is gone but winter isn't quite here yet." Fishlegs said.

"Great time to take a vacation." Astrid said.

"Tell me about it, after the last few weeks we really needed this." Heather said.

"Yeah, it was great you two could come out, but are you sure that we're not pulling you away from anything?" Hiccup asked.

"Don't worry bro, the Berserkers can live without me for a few days." Dagur said.

"I mean they seemed to get by without you for the last three years right." Snotlout tried to joke but quickly regretted it when Dagur gave him a swift backhand to the face, knocking him off the log they were sitting on, "Ow." He said weakly.

"Anyway." Heather said slowly giving her brother a questionable look before turning her attention back to Hiccup, "Thanks for inviting Hiccup, we appreciate it." She said.

"Anytime." Hiccup said.

The riders then drifted into a comfortable silence, the only sounds either coming from the wind or the crackling fire. Many of the riders were fine with just sitting back and enjoying the quiet atmosphere, Astrid rested her head on Hiccup's shoulder as he wrapped an arm around her and Heather was leaning against Fishlegs who didn't seem to mind one bit. However, after a few minutes Tuffnut decided to speak up.

"Okay, this is getting boring I need a little excitement in the next five minutes or I'm out of here." He said.

"Tuff, I think we all just want to relax right now, okay." Hiccup said.

"Come on people, the night is young we have to do something." He said.

"What can we do right now?" Astrid asked.

"Fair point, fair Astrid." He said earning him an annoyed look from Astrid but continued, "Look around you, we're in the forest at night in front of a campfire, this just screams stories." He said.

"You make a tempting argument brother; why don't we partake in the classic tradition of telling scary stories?" Ruffnut asked.

"You know, that actually sound like a bad idea." Snotlout said.

"Ooh, I love scary stories." Dagur said looking excited.

"Sounds good to me." Heather said.

"Umm, okay I guess I'll join." Fishlegs said clearly a little nervous.

"I'm in, Hiccup?" Astrid asked, cocking her head to her boyfriend.

Hiccup looked at her and then the others who were looking pretty excited, a smirk then formed on his face, "Sure, why not." He said.

* * *

 _ **Well, there it is, the first chapter, sorry for it being short, I promise longer chapters and I'm going to try to be more consistent with updating because I like where this going. Read and enjoy, reviews would be greatly appreciated, also don't be afraid to give some suggestions I would welcome them, Thank you.**_


	2. Tuffnut's Story

After the initial excitement had died down, Hiccup stood up and told them about the order in which they were going to go.

"Okay we're going to go counterclockwise meaning that when someone finishes the person to their right will go next, sound good?" He asked as everyone nodded, "Well Tuffnut, seeing as how this was your idea why don't you go first." He said sitting back down.

"With pleasure." Tuffnut said. "This is a story that Uncle Gorstaag heard and passed down through the Thorston family, it's called…"

 _ **Eat or be Eaten**_

Waves were crashing on the beach of a seemingly ordinary island, it looked like any other island in the Archipelago, roughly half the size of Berk and mostly covered by coniferous forests with a few clear valleys. The sky was mostly cloudy with patches of orange sky peeking through, indicating that it was around sunset. Even though there was limited light, one could clearly see a figure drifting aimlessly in the water, he was a young man in his early twenties, he had short blonde hair and was wearing what appeared to be a torn brown tunic and had several scratches on his face. The stranger was floating on a piece of wood clearly unconscious, luckily the current moved him towards the shore. He drifted onto the beach but remained unmoving, not too long after, shadowy figure emerged from the forest and dragged the unconscious man away.

The man was currently sleeping in a bed, soon his eyes started to open but then within a second he bolted upright frantically looking around.

"Where am I?" He asked to no one in particular.

"Good, you're awake." He heard a voice say.

Turning his head, he found the owner of the voice, he was a slightly older man, possibly in his mid-forties with had shaggy brown hair and a scraggily beard. He was built lean, wearing a long, pale brown tunic that went to his knees, a black leather belt over a layer of white fur, no trousers and brown fur boots.

"Who are you?" The man asked.

"I guess introductions are in order, my name is Evert and I'm chief of this tribe." Evert explained. "And as for where you are, this the island of Nyta and we found you passed out on our beach."

After hearing Evert's explaination, the man began to relax a little although clearly still wary about his current situation.

"So who would you be?" Evert asked.

"Oh, I'm Rolf." He answered.

"May I ask what brought you to our island?" Evert asked while taking a seat opposite to the bed.

"Well last thing I remember, I was on a fishing boat, then there was storm, the next thing I knew my boat capsizes and I must have passed out." Rolf explained as Evert listened.

"Well you're safe now, some of my villagers found you on the beach and brought you hear." Evert explained, "I hope you don't mind the change of clothing?"

Rolf looked down and noticed that he was now wearing a dark green, short sleeved tunic with red pants. "No, I don't mind thank you." He said.

"Don't worry about it." Evert said as he stood up. "Well I just wanted to make sure you were okay, and now if you'll excuse me I have to get preparations under way." He said.

"Preparations, for what?" Rolf asked.

"Oh, it's a special feast that my village has on special occasions." Evert said. "You can attend if you want."

"Well I wouldn't want to impose." Rolf said unsure of how to properly respond.

"It would be no trouble at all in fact I would be honored if you attended as my guest of honor." Evert offered with a smile.

Rolf still unsure but not wanting to seem rude nodded his head, "How can I refuse." He said.

"Excellent, it starts in a few hours, so you rest up and I'll send someone to get you when the time comes." Evert said as he left the hut.

After that Rolf spent the next two hours resting, when he felt strong enough to get out of bed he began putting his boots on and then he heard the door opening. Looking up he was surprised to see a young woman standing near the doorway, she was about his age with medium red hair. She was lean like Evert, she was wearing a dark yellow tunic that went to her knees, a brown leather belt and had brown boots.

"Oh, hello I'm guessing Evert sent you to get me." He said.

"Yes my name is Disa and I came to get you for the feast." She said although Rolf noticed she had a nervous look in her eye, although he didn't have time to think on that before Disa was escorting him out the door.

Once outside he noticed that the village was fairly small, from what he could see there were a little over two dozen people mingling amongst each other in what he assumed to be the village square. When they noticed him they all stopped what they were doing to look at him in what he could only guess was curiosity, but he noticed that they were all had streaks of brown and green paint on their faces as well as any exposed parts of their body. As he and Disa approached the center which housed a large fire pit with wood piled into it, he felt Disa's hand on his shoulder, looking over he noticed the scared look in her eye.

"Listen to me, you need to get out of here." She whispered to him.

"What are you talking about?" Rolf asked confused.

"I don't have time to explain, all I can say is that you are in danger and you need to leave before they…" She did not get to finish her sentence however when they heard shouting.

"Everybody ready, the feast is about to begin." Evert, who Rolf noticed was now shirtless with his whole upper body covered in paint. He stood on a rock so he that was over everyone as they looked at him, "Before we begin, let me be the first to welcome our visitor Rolf." He said.

Everyone looked at Rolf, making him feel a little embarrassed, when he turned his head he noticed that Disa had disappeared, although he didn't have time to ponder this when Evert started speaking again.

"Rolf, are you ready?" He asked.

"I…guess, it's just that I haven't noticed any food." He said.

"Well we have to catch our meal first." Evert said stepping down from his rock.

"Oh, what are we catching, boar?" Rolf asked.

"Close, it's you." Evert said.

Rolf just stared at him in shock, trying to think if he heard him right, but he looked at Evert who had a sick grin on his face and a hungry look in his eye. "You got to be joking." Rolf said taking a cautionary step back, looking around he noticed that the other villagers were giving him the same hungry look, some of them licking their lips.

"Oh I'm very serious Rolf, you see good meat is hard to come by on this island, but every once in a while someone like you shows up and get to enjoy ourselves." Evert explained.

"If that's true than why didn't eat me after you found me?" Rolf asked sweat rolling down his forehead.

"Well we found out that the meat just tastes a whole lot better when it's free ranged, plus it didn't seem fair not to at least give you a chance." Evert said.

Rolf looked around and saw that the people were now all wielding spears and hatchets. They easily had him surrounded but they kept their distance, "You're all insane." Rolf exclaimed.

"Oh don't be like that Rolf, we are after all going to give you 10-minute head start…starting now." Evert said.

Without needing anymore convincing, Rolf bolted pass the crowed, running out of the village and into the woods. Moving as fast as his legs could carry him, the hapless Rolf blindly ran deeper in the woods, not caring where he was going all he could think about was putting as much distance between him the cannibals as possible. After several minutes of running he got tired and leaned against a large pine tree while breathing heavily, as he tried to steady his heart he suddenly heard noises coming not too far from him. Instinctively he pressed his back to the tree and sank down low as he peeked behind the tree, not too far from him he saw a couple of villagers rushing into the clearing. They stopped which made Rolf hold his breath, close his eyes and hope that they don't find him, after several tense filled seconds the villagers decided to move on. Once Rolf was sure that they were gone he released a staggered breath, but at that moment he felt a sudden rush of hair next to his face, opening his eyes he saw a spear in the tree not six inches from his head.

"You'll have to hide better than that." Evert shouted, looking the direction of the voice Rolf saw Evert and several other villager starring down at him from a nearby hill.

Without thinking Rolf got up and started running again but as he did he could hear Evert yelling behind him, "Run little piggy run!" followed by shouting from the rest of the posse.

Rolf dashed through the forest, as he was running he could the hear his pursuers hollering all around him but the best he could do was tune them out and focus of escaping, however he taken out of his thinking when he tripped. Falling hard on the ground near a hollow log he could hearing footsteps closing in, thinking quick he hid inside the log and waited. He tried to keep himself from panicking as he heard footsteps running over him, squeezing his eyes shut he desperately tried to think of a way out when it suddenly hit him, _the beach._

" _I have to get to the beach, there must be boats there are something."_ He thought to himself.

With a plan in mind he waited a few minutes and he was sure that they had passed he crawled out of his hiding place and made a beeline towards the east side of the island, thinking that he kept running he'll hit the beach eventually. Things were going well when suddenly several hungry villagers came sprinting out of the forest and chased after him with hatchets in hand, Rolf sped up trying to outrun them. He could feel them gaining on him, he was lucky to avoid a flying hatchet, looking ahead he noticed an incline and without thinking he jumped. Rolling down the incline he hits the ground hard, with a groan he slowly gets up, now covered in bruises, scraps and rips in his clothing he continues running, after what seemed like hour he finally made his way out the forest and looks over the beach.

"I made it." He says allowing a small chuckle to escape his mouth, however his victory is short lived when out of nowhere Evert tackles him.

Forcing Rolf to the ground he held him down as Rolf desperately tried to escape his grasp but found that Evert wasn't going to budge. Looking up at him, Rolf could see the crazed look in his eyes as some drool escaped his mouth and dropped onto his face.

"You gave us quite a chase back there, but now it's over and we got mouths to feed." Evert said holding a hatchet over his head.

Just when it seemed like it was going to end, Rolf heard a loud smack, this was followed by Evert falling over unconscious. Looking up Rolf was surprised to see Disa holding a bludgeon, she dropped the bludgeon and came over to help Rolf to his feet.

"You saved just saved my life." Rolf said as Disa led him away from Evert's body.

"I tried to do that earlier but I wasn't fast enough." She explained not dropping their pace.

"Wait, why did you try to save me?" Rolf asked.

"Because I'm sick of this horrifying custom and I was hoping that I could at least get one person out of here." She explained as they approached a boat, "This is our way out." She said.

"We?" Rolf questioned.

"Yes we, I want to get out of here, far away from these maniacs." She said. At that moment they could hear shouting coming from the forest.

"All right, let's get out of here." Rolf said hastily as he and Disa pushed the boat out into open water.

They both grabbed oars and started rowing as the villagers came running onto the beach, yelling at the top of their lungs while fruitlessly throwing spears into the ocean.

"See you psychos!" Rolf yelled as he and Disa sailed farther from the island.

It had been a few weeks since the incident, Rolf and Disa made it to Rolf's home and he found that she had adjusted quite nicely. It wasn't incredibly long before the two formed a relationship and were currently living together. Late one day Rolf came walking into their house to find Disa chopping some vegetables, when she saw him, she smiled.

"Hey honey, how was your day?" She asked.

"Exhausting." He said.

"Well good news, I drew you up a nice, warm bath." She said.

"Oh Disa that's real nice of you." He said as she led him to the back of the house.

"Well I just thought that you could use some rest." She said as they entered a room with a large metal tub over a low flame, "Now why don't you relax and I'll get dinner ready." She said.

She turned to leave as Rolf took off his clothes and stepped into the warm water allowing it to relax his muscles. "You know I can't believe we made it out of there." He said toward the kitchen.

"Yeah, good thing too, they were all crazy." Disa said stepping into the room holding a cutting board covered in chopped vegetables, "I mean they always roasted the meat when I know for a fact that boiling is better." She said quietly.

"What was that?" Rolf asked.

"Oh nothing, just talking about dinner, I think it's going to be real tasty." She said with a smile as watched Rolf recline in the tub, not noticing the water starting to simmer.


	3. Ruffnut's story

"And let's just say that she ate good that night." Tuffnut said in dramatically spooky tone. When he was finished he looked around at everyone in the group. "So what did you guys think, pretty scare right?" He asked.

"That wasn't a bad story, kept me interested." Dagur said.

"The twist was a good touch." Astrid said.

"Yeah, but I had one question, if they had boats then why didn't they just try fishing or leave the island before resorting to cannibalism?" Fishlegs asked.

"Hey, don't try to ruin my story." Tuffnut said pointing an accusing finger at the larger Viking.

"I'm sorry, it was still a good story." Fishlegs said as he noticed that Ruffnut had a scowl on her face with her arms crossed, "Something wrong Ruffnut?" He asked.

"Yeah, I wanted to tell that story." Ruffnut said.

"Sorry sis, tell you what, you can tell uncle Gorstaag's other favorite story." Tuffnut suggested as Ruffnut smiled and nodded.

"How many stories does your uncle have?" Snotlout asked.

"Not sure, he didn't keep track." Tuffnut said with a shrug.

"Well either way, it's your turn Ruffnut." Hiccup said.

"Excellent, well everyone, get ready for a little tale called…"

 _ **Riddle Me This**_

Within a calm forest there was a moderate-sized stream that ran peacefully past a large cave, it wasn't incredibly noticeable, just a big hole in a rocky cliff. Not too far away from it, a black haired woman around her 30's wearing an orange long-sleeved tunic, a grey skirt that went past her knees and brown leather boots with white fur at the top was walking by. She was from a village that was several miles away from where she was now and the reason why she was so was that she heard that one could pick the best apples farther inland.

"Alright, they should be somewhere around here." She said to herself.

As she continued her walk, she got closer to the cave, taking a quick glance at it she chose to ignore it and keep walking. However, before she could even two steps she heard a strange noise coming from the cave, it sounded kind of like deep, low wind. Snapping to the sound of it she looked into the cave mouth curiously.

"What was that?" She wondered.

After a few seconds she heard the sound again, this time slightly louder than before and not only could she hear it but she could actually feel it blowing past her.

"Hello, is anyone in there?" She called into the cave but was met only by the sound again.

Part of her wanted to just keep walking and ignore whatever it was, however the other part that was listening to told her to investigate. _"Maybe someone's in trouble."_ She thought to herself, possibly in an attempt to justify walking inside a dark cave. Whatever the reason she was already at the threshold of the cave and after a second of hesitation, she went in. The interior of the cave was what one would expect, it was pretty spacious and the walls where slightly damp with moisture.

" _Okay, already this seems like a bad idea."_ She told herself but push onward.

She walked several feet further into the cave but was still close enough to the entrance so that she could have some light. Looking around she heard the sound again, this time it was much louder and had more force to it when it made contact. Curious as to what it was she looked around and spotted something about ten feet away from her. The thing in question was pretty big, definitely taller than her by a few feet, it was mostly shrouded, making it harder to see but what she could see was that it was slowly moving up and down. Curiosity getting the best of her she walked closer to the object, but when she got close enough she was gasped as she got a good look at it. It looked like a large man except the skin seemed to be dull green color, its head, chin, forearms and chest were covered in thick, matted gray fur. The law was large with a minor under bite so that a couple of rectangular, yellow teeth were visible and the nose was bulbous. The creature appeared to be sleeping, drawing in deep breaths and exhaling loudly, explaining the noise from earlier.

"Okay, that answers that question now let's get out of here." She whispered to herself.

Turning around she prepared to make a hasty yet quiet exit, obviously not wanting to wake up the creature behind her. However, when she took her first step a loud _crack_ echoed through the cave, causing her to stiffen in fear. Looking down she saw another shocking sight, what she had stepped on was a bone, and not an animal bone, it looked human. She didn't get time to process what she was looking at when she heard a rustling sound behind her, turning around she looked up with terrified eyes at the large creature looking down at her. Now standing up, it he creature was easily around fifteen feet tall, barrel chested with angry yellow eyes that were staring right at her. Without thinking she screamed as loud as she could and made a dash for the exit, however a large hand grabbed her and she was dropped on the ground behind the creature, who then sat down between her and the exit. In a sitting position, she instinctively scooched back and held her arm out in some attempt to keep the monster at a distance.

"What are you doing here." The creature said in deep voice much to her astonishment that it could speak. "You woke me up." It accused.

The woman was still too shocked to speak, causing the creature to roll his eyes with a sigh, he then took his large hand and snapped his fingers right in front of her face, this caused her to snap out of her shock but she was still staring at him wide-eyed.

"Can I get an answer?" He asked irritated.

"I-I-I'm sorry, I didn't know that you were sleeping here." She tried to explain.

"Well this is my cave and I happen to sleep in it." He retorted.

"I can see that, but if I may ask, what are you?" She asked.

"Really?" He asked a little surprised, "I guess I'm not the only one who lives in a cave, I'm a troll. Have you never seen a troll before?" He asked.

"No, I haven't, I didn't think trolls existed." She said.

"Okay now I'm a little offended, first you wake me up and now you're say that I'm not real." He said indignantly.

"I said I was sorry; I didn't mean to wake you up." She retorted, getting a little irritated herself.

"You know what, I'm sorry, I have a tendency to be cranky I'm woken up." He said.

"It's all right, I'm sorry for disturbing you." She apologized.

"Don't worry about it, I really need to stop taking so many naps anyway." He said with a chuckle, which she joined.

"You know it's funny, based on the stories I was pretty sure you were going to eat me." She said.

"Oh I'm going to eat you." He said with a straight face.

"What?!" The woman shouted.

"Yeah, I mean I am troll and humans compose a significant part of my diet, haven't you noticed the bones?" He asked gesturing to several human bones littered throughout the cave.

"You can't eat me!" She shouted taking a step back.

"I'm pretty sure I can, I am bigger than you and I'm blocking the only exist out." He explained as she went pale. "Don't worry, I normally crush humans before I eat the so that they don't feel it." He explained.

"How considerate of you!" She yelled clearly using sarcasm.

"Okay, let's get this over with, I'm starving." He said reaching for her.

The woman darted her eyes back and forth, desperately trying to figure a way until she got an idea. "Wait." She said and the troll did indeed stop and looked at her in confusion, "Can you at least give me a chance to win my life?" She asked.

The troll rubbed his chin in interest, "That's the first time a human has asked me that. What did you have in mind?" He asked.

"How about I ask you three riddles, if you get any one of them wrong then you have to let me go, but if you manage to get them right then you can eat me, sound good?" She asked hopefully.

The troll pondered her proposal for a few seconds until he spoke again, "Alright, you got a deal, besides I like a little entertainment before a meal." He said.

"Okay, first riddle." She said and then started to think for a few seconds before she got one, "At the beginning I'm tall and thin, but I get shorter and fatter the more you use me, what am I?" She asked fairly confident.

"Easy, a candle." The troll said causing the woman's eyes to widen, "We trolls really like riddles." He said.

"Okay, try this one." She said not deterred, "What has forests without trees, villages without houses, and rivers without water?" She asked.

The troll pondered this for a second, scratching his head as he thought about a possible answer, seeing his confused face gave the women new confidence, however after a minute the troll's face lit up.

"It's a map." He said.

The woman at that moment became very worried, he was able to solve two of her riddles and she only had one more to ask, if he manages to get it right then she's troll food.

"I'm waiting." The troll said.

"Hold on, I'm thinking." She said as she thought about what he final riddle will be, and then she was struck by an idea that made her smile. "Okay, last riddle. What's big, hairy and can be fooled without even realizing it?" She asked.

"Hmm, that's an interesting one." The troll said as he began to think, after nearly a minute he was still unsure. "I might need a minute." He said.

"Take all the time you need." She said.

The troll continued to think even standing up and pacing around the cave as the woman patiently watched him. Eventually the troll sat back down but this time his back was to her and he face the wall, taking this opportunity, the woman quietly sneaked past the troll and managed to slip through the mouth of the cave without him noticing. Once she was out, she took a few steps away and then bolted into the forest where she ran nonstop until she reached her village. Later that night, she was resting peacefully in her bed, happy that she managed to make it out of the cave alive. However, she was then jostled from her sleep when she a loud creaking noise coming from above her, before she could react the roof was suddenly ripped off her house. Looking up in fright she saw the troll angrily staring down at her, all she could do was press herself to her headboard in a feeble attempt to put distance between them.

"I figured it out." The troll said threateningly as the woman shrieked.


	4. Fishlegs' Story

"And the troll ate her slowly." Ruffnut said as she concluded her story. "I always liked that story." She said.

"Interesting, I liked the riddles." Fishlegs said.

"Trolls are always good for stories." Dagur pointed out. "In fact they remind me of stories Dad would use to tell me before I went to bed." He said.

"Yeah, you know if you changed the ending then it could be a good story of kids." Astrid said.

"Hey, it's supposed to be scary." Ruffnut said crossing her arms.

"Maybe it was the way you told it." Tuffnut said earning him a glare from his sister.

"Well we don't have to worry about it now because Fishlegs, it's your turn." Hiccup said.

"Oh this ought to be good." Snotlout said sarcastically to which Fishlegs glared at him.

"I'll have you know Snotlout that I have a story that's very scary and it's called…"

 **The Growth**

All was fairly peaceful within a large forest, tall trees stood motionless as a gentle breeze blew through the foliage but it was undercut by a louder noise of footprints stepping on twigs and fallen leaves. The one creating this noise was a middle-ages man with short blonde hair wearing a light green, short-sleeved tunic, a grey leather vest, grey pants, brown boots and a satchel draped over his shoulder. As he walked he looked around to take in the scenery, he inhaled the forest air with a smile on his face as he passed between two trees. Once passed his eyes widen when he saw that he had entered a valley, it wasn't big but it was still spacious and it was almost completely clear, except for one thing which drew his attention. In the center of the valley was a small bush, but what caught his eye was that there was a solitary flower growing from it. The flower resembled an orchid with five pointed petals, each one had a deep blue coloring around the edges that lightened closer to the center which in turn was vibrant yellow with dew glistening in the sunlight, making it almost almost look like gold. Intrigued by the sight before him, the man slowly approached the flower as if it was going to run away if he wasn't careful.

"Beautiful." He breathed as he gazed at the orchid.

As he looked at the flower, he obviously felt the need to pluck it and take it with him, but at the same time he also felt something else, an unnerving sensation that to him was like a warning against getting too close. However, he ignored the feeling and grabbed the flower, it offered a surprising amount of resistance but it came off none the less. Bringing the flower closer to his face he marveled at its beauty, but at that moment he felt a sudden jolt his hand causing him to drop the flower, looking at his hand he noticed a tiny drop of blood on his index finger. Looking down at the flower he noticed that it had thorns of the stem which explains how he cut himself, wiping away the blood he put on some gloves and placed the flower in his satchel.

"Let's get you back home." He said patting his satchel as he began his trek back home.

The man got back to his village an hour before sunset and immediately went to a small house that stood in front of a large garden. Knocking on the front door he was greeted by an older woman with short, greying hair and was wearing a dark blue tunic with brown pants along with brown boots.

"Oh hello Anton, what brings you hear?" She asked pleasantly.

"Gertrude, something wonderful happened when I was walking through the forest." Anton began his story, "I came across a small clearing where I saw the most beautiful flower that I have ever seen and I have it with me right now." He said holding up his satchel.

"Well let's see then shall we." Gertrude said getting interested.

Anton made sure to put on his glove so that he wouldn't getting pricked again and reached into his satchel. Taking hold of the flower he pulled it out and held it out for Gertrude to see, but what they both saw came to his surprise and her confusion.

"Is that it?" She asked.

Sitting in Anton's opened palm was the flower but it wasn't nearly as vibrant as it had been earlier, in fact, it was completely shriveled up and had a dull brown color as if someone left it out in the sun.

"I don't understand, it was alive when I found it and that was only an hour ago." Anton said still surprised by what happened to the flower.

"Perhaps taking it off the root and placing it in your satchel was the reason, some flowers are very sensitive and can only thrive in certain conditions." Gertrude explained.

"You might be right." Anton said with a disappointed town.

"Tell you what, tomorrow we'll head back to the woods and try and find another flower." Gertrude said.

"I don't know how much luck we'll have it's probably very rare on this island." Anton said, "But I suppose it's worth a try." He said.

"Okay then, well I should be getting ready for bed, have a good night Anton." Gertrude said.

"You too." Anton said as he walked away.

Anton made his way back to his home, entering through the front down he walked into the living room which was adorned with plants of various sizes that were either near the window, on the counters or hanging from the ceiling. Placing the satchel on the table he again gazed at the lifeless flower which at this point managed to shrivel up more. Taking a closer inspection, Anton tried to feel the petals but to his surprise they along with the rest of the flower grumbled to pieces like a dried leaf. The pieces drifted from his hand onto the floor leaving Anton shocked.

"How could this have happened so quickly?" He asked himself.

Getting a broom to sweep up the remnants he then started getting ready to go to bed, but as he changed into his night clothes he looked at his finger and saw that cut had stopped bleeding, with a small smile he laid in his bed and closed his eyes. The next morning Anton awoke and stretched and began his normal morning routine, but as he started making breakfast he caught a glimpse of his finger and was surprised by what he saw. On the spot where he was cut the skin was now a greenish pigment.

"Where did that come from?" He asked reasonably alarmed.

Instinctively he walked over to a bucket of water and began washing his hands, but when he checked again he saw that the spot was still green which caused him to worry. "I better get this looked at." He said to himself.

Anton went to the village healer who looked at it and she told him that it could be a very minor infection from cutting his finger so she gave him some salve to wipe on it. As he walked back home he noticed that the green spot had appeared to grow although only by a little bit but it worried him none the less. When he got back to his house he immediately rubbed on the salve at which point there was a knock at this door, opening it he found Gertrude standing there.

"Morning Anton, are you ready to go?" She asked.

At that moment he realized that in his haste he had forgotten about their trip to the woods, "Sorry Gertrude, but I just went to the healer and she told me that I may have an infection so I think I'm just going to relax today so it can heal." He explained.

"Oh okay, well I hope you get better, see you later." She said walking away.

"Same to you." Anton said waving his hand and then retreating back into his house.

Anton spent the day trying to go about his daily business but he couldn't shake his feeling of anxiety over the infection which seemed to grow steadily over the passing hours to which he responded by applying more salve. Later that night as he tried to sleep, he began to feel a strange, almost painful sensation coming from his hand, this caused him to wake up and head over to light a nearby candle. Holding his finger near the flame he was shocked to see that the infection had almost covered his entire finger and that it was branching off, almost like vines threatening to spread to rest of his hand. But that wasn't the only thing that disturbed him, near the tip of his finger he spotted a strange bump and the pain he was feeling was coming from it, it felt as though something was trying to push its way out. Without thinking he began to apply pressure to the bump, even though it was unwise to do so with an infection but he didn't care as he squeezed which caused to pain to grow.

Ignoring the pain, he continued to squeeze and after several excruciating seconds the skin covering the bump finally broke and some kind of fluid sprayed out, forcing him to close his eyes. When he opened them he almost fainted at the sight, on his finger there was a small sprout sticking out of the opening as if it was in soil. Anton's mouth hung open as if trying to say something but unfortunately nothing came out, the only thing he could think to do was grab the sprout and began to pull as hard as he could. He immediately regretted his decision as the pain was worse than before but he wasn't going to stop now, with one final pull he managed to yank the growth out of his finger, but as soon as he did he collapsed on his bed unconscious. Early the next morning Anton awoke, as he regained consciousness he smiled in relief.

"Glad that's over with." He breathed out.

However, the second he got up he felt a bizarre feeling in his arm, almost like he couldn't feel it, looking over to his arm he had to keep himself from screaming as he took in his condition. The growth that sprouted from his finger had now spread over his entire hand, but unlike last night it was thicker like constricting roots with no skin visible. He tried to move his fingers but they didn't respond which just added to his horror, without thinking he yanked at the growth but it held firm and he also felt pain as if it was own skin.

"What is this?" He asked clearly terrified.

He thought about going back to the healer but decided against it because he was afraid that they would amputate his arm. It may be a bad idea to not seek help but right now his rationality was the furthest thing from his mind as all he could focus on was trying to remove the growth. For the most of the morning he tried every method he could to remove the growth but nothing worked, at to make matters worse the growth was spreading faster than yesterday as it was already covering his forearm, running out of options he suddenly had one last idea. Going to his fire pit he lite the wood and when he decided that the flame was big enough he stuck his arm into it. What followed was a sudden flash of intense pain forcing him to bite his lip to muffle his screams, but after a minute he pulled his arm out of the fire and he saw that the roots have been singed black but he believed that he had stopped the growth.

He breathed out a chuckle but he quickly stopped when he saw that from beneath the blackened remains new roots quickly sprouted, covering the burnt skin and continuing on to the bicep. Shocked by its speed, Anton took a step back but suddenly tripped, hitting the floor he moaned weakly as the roots kept spreading without any signs of stopping. Hours passed until around late afternoon, Gertrude came to Anton's house with a worried expression on her face as she began to knock on the door.

"Anton." She said, "Anton are you in there, it's me Gertrude."

Gertrude waited for a few moments but when she received no reply she opened to the door and looked around the living room, becoming increasingly worried for her friend's safety.

"Anton, are you in here?" She called out.

She stopped when she heard movement coming from the bedroom, she approached and hesitantly opened the door. Looking inside she saw a figure sitting hunched over on the bed seemingly unaware of her presence so she walked a little closer to him.

"Anton, are you alright?" She asked as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

Gertrude gently turned Anton around to face, but what she saw caused her to scream in utter shock because before her Anton, but now the growth had spread past his shoulder up to his neck and cheek. Those weren't the only spots covered unfortunately, as roots had sprouted from his stomach and leg ripping their way through his clothes. Anton shambled towards her with his other arm outstretch in a feeble attempt to ask for help, this caused her to quickly step back to put distance between her and him. However, Anton's attention was pulled away from Gertrude when he voices outside, most likely others who her screaming, this caused him to rush out of the room and out the door. Stumbling outside he gazed at the terrified looks of the people around him, without anything left to do he bolted towards the forest, disappearing in the foliage.

Anton ran blindly through the forest, occasionally tripping as it felt like his legs were giving out but he kept moving and after a while he came across a clearly much like the one where he found the flower. When he entered he stopped and began to violently cough as he gripped his neck, feeling as though something was moving up his throat, this caused to fall on his back. As he was coughing, the roots on his body began to move into the soil, effectively pinning him to the ground and very soon his coughing died down. In fact, no sound was coming from him because vines began to rise out of his mouth, spreading over his face and the only thing he could do was dart his eyes back in forth in fright as the vines continued with their work.

Days passed since Anton's disappearance and there was peace in the forest until one day two figures entered the clearing, they were a young couple out for stroll when they both gazed at something before them.

"Would you look at that." The man said.

"They're beautiful." The women said.

Before the two there stood one lone bush, it was fairly large but what caught their attention was the that from it there stood a batch of beautiful, blue flowers.


End file.
